Ohio EPA Announces 2015 State Science Day Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Environmental Protection Research

Ohio EPA announced this week the Governor's Award for Excellence in Environmental Protection Research winners. These 24 students were selected at State Science Day at the Ohio State University on Saturday May 16.

State Science Day is organized and sponsored by the Ohio Academy of Science and is the equivalent of a state championship for science projects. The primary objective of State Science Day is to provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate their abilities and interests in science through individual experimentation and research.

Each year, more than 35,000 students at more than 1,000 schools across Ohio participate in local science fairs and are judged on knowledge achieved, effective use of scientific method, clarity of expression, originality and creativity. Students who achieve superior ratings are invited to participate in district science fairs. More than 1,000 students from grades 5-12 participate in State Science Day and may be eligible for nearly 100 different scholarships and awards valued at more than $4 million.

This year, Ohio EPA would particularly like to congratulate freshman Michael Chmura, junior Alan Fong and senior Michaela Dean, who were earned a Governor’s Award for the second time, and senior Vishal Nallanagulagari, for his third time receiving this award.

This year’s recipients of the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Environmental Protection Research are:

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1972 to consolidate efforts to protect and improve air quality, water quality and waste management in Ohio. Since then, air pollutants dropped by as much as 90 percent; large rivers meeting standards improved from 21 percent to 89 percent; and hundreds of polluting, open dumps were replaced with engineered landfills and an increased emphasis on waste reduction and recycling.